Wamda

U.A.E

How did one Dubai startup scale to 24 markets with less than $10 million?

A “real coup” is how Arrow Labs founder Rami Darwish describes the partnership he has signed with BMB, a multinational IT...

SAAS Arrow Labs Draper Associates

U.A.E

YallaMarket’s $2.3 million pre-Seed and the rapid rise of quick commerce

Motorbikes emblazoned with the logo of a food, grocery or last mile delivery company can be seen on almost every street in the UAE. Such...

YallaMarket quick commerce e-grocery

Regional

What are the most in-demand skills among startups in Mena?

Talent remains one of the biggest challenges facing startups in the Middle East. Good talent is difficult to find and can be very costly....

recruitment talent Astrolabs

Morocco

Chari: The next step in digitising the baqala

At almost every corner or block in a Middle East and North Africa (Mena) city stands a baqala, or small grocer, typically independent,...

Chari.ma

Regional

How open banking is changing the payments landscape in Mena

Abdulla Almoayed is the founder and CEO of open banking platform Tarabut Gateway, which recently closed a $12 million pre-Series A round...

Open banking Tarabut Gateway

Global

Why tech and sustainability in Asian markets are set for investment windfall

Trade and investment between the Middle East and both India and China have been steadily rising over the past few years. This has become...

India china

Regional

Startups in Mena raised $150 million in October 2021

Startups in Mena raised more than $150 million in October across 42 deals, a 55.5 per cent month-on-month decline in terms of value, but a...

investments VC funding

Regional

The startup fighting for open finance in Mena

Mirna Sleiman is on a mission to revolutionise the Middle East’s banking and financial sector. Having spent more than eight years...

open finance Open banking Fintech Galaxy

Palestine

Family businesses need to support startups in Palestine

Majd Zghyer is the strategy officer at uMake, an entrepreneurship support organisation (ESO) based in Ramallah, Palestine. In recent...

family businesses

Regional

Can direct-to-consumer commerce maintain its momentum in Mena?

“Swipe up”, an Instagram term that has become so synonymous with online shopping that it is hardly considered an instruction or...

direct-to-consumer D2C eyewa

Global

Tech hegemony: Friend or foe?

Salwa F. Darraj is a senior consultant at Ernst and Young (EY), where she is the Women’s Network Champion. Darraj is a Member of the...

Technology

Regional

Shoutout platforms and the growing personalisation of celebrities

Social media platforms proved to be a powerful tool for celebrities across the world to engage directly with their fans, dictate their own...

Social Media

U.A.E

Abu Dhabi is on a mission to develop games

People in the Middle East like to play games, be it on their smartphones, laptops or games consoles. In fact, the region is home to the...

Gaming esports Jawaker

U.A.E

Enabling innovation: A blended approach to university education

Education is one of the critical elements of an innovation ecosystem. Here, Professor David Sadler, Provost at the University of Birmingham...

blended learning EdTech

Regional

Gitex Future Stars: North Stars in the making

Gitex, the Middle East’s largest technology exhibition is one of the most important events for those in the technology sector. It is...

GITEX GITEX Future Stars

Saudi Arabia

The slow rise of deeptech in Saudi Arabia

As the Saudi startup scene continues to set records, business models around advanced technologies or deeptech, are beginning to take...

deeptech

Regional

Tourist VCs and their impact on emerging market ecosystems

There is a rising number of foreign VCs investing in the Middle East. Of the 10 Egyptian startups that raised investment in September, four...

Egypt Investment

Regional

Flat6Labs: A decade of accelerating startups

Once Hany Sonbaty and Ahmed Alfi launched their venture capital firm, Sawari Ventures, in Egypt back in 2010, the pair were often hounded...

Flat6Labs

Regional

Young Arab entrepreneurs need govt’ support, increased access to funding

Amid today’s challenging labour market and lack of access to high quality education, young people across the Arab World are...

Arab youth

Regional

Women cannot have it all...

Julie Nguyen is the founder of Crunchmoms, a professional network based in the UAE for talented, working mothers. There is...

Women empowerment

Regional

Mental health startups in Mena

To mark World Mental Health Day, we have mapped the mental health startups in the Middle East and North Africa. Wamda also recently...

mental health

Regional

Startups in Mena raised $338 million in September 2021

Startups in Mena raised almost $338 million across 37 deals in September, a 111 per cent rise month on month and a whopping 3000...

Investment

Jordan

Meet Konn Technologies, the Jordanian startup bringing innovation to construction

The population of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) remains one of the fastest growing in the world. While the growth trajectory has...

contech Construction Konn Technologies

Regional

Do robots create or destroy jobs?

Eugene Kovalenko is the chief commercial officer of Rozum Robotics, the company behind the first robot cafe in the UAE. When it...

robotics

Thought Leadership

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